Breather valve



jmn 2%, B9. J D. CRE'CCA ET AL,

BREATHER VALVE Filed Oct. 18, 1934 JOHN D. CREccA AND STEPHEN M. Pl-HLUPS.

INVENTORS ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 28, 1936 UNITED STATES 2,028,754 BREATHER VALVE John D. Crecca, Stephen M.

United States Navy, and Phillips, Westbury, N. Y.

Application October 18, 1934, Serial No. 748,862

6 Claims.

(Granted under the act of March 3, 1883, as

amended April 30,

This invention relates to a breather valve for permitting the escape of air when filling the tank or container, such as a tank, tank car, tank truck, tank ship, or the like, with a liquid and for the admission of air to the foregoing containers or compartments therein when removing the liquid therefrom by means of a pump or other device, while at the same time excluding the admission of Water, rain water, sea water, spray, or other foreign matter to the tank or compartment in question at all times during the operation of either expelling or taking in air.

The particular application of the device in question is for attachment directly or by means of piping to fuel oil tanks or tanks used for the storage of fuel oil and similar fiuids or materials loaded into a tank or removed therefrom while in a fluid state aboard ships and sea-going vessels, and to permit the filling or pumping down of such tanks under all conditions of weather with the decks of the vessel awash or flooded from the sea, or in any other manner, without permitting any of the accumulated water to enter the said tanks in which the fuel oil or other liquid subject to contamination is stored.

The further object of this invention is to simplify the construction and reduce the weight of a breather valve, that will fulfill the foregoing requirements, to a minimum.

The further object of this invention is to permit attachments of the breather valve directly to a ship's deck or bulkhead by means of welding or with a very short section of pipe in such manner as will permit it to be installed in obscure corners and without necessitating long lengths of pipe to raise it above the height of a normal sea washing over the deck.

A further object is to regulate the pressure or vacuum, under which the respective valves are to operate, from a position external to the valve and thus without dismantling the valve. The pressure valve or vacuum valve of the breather valve can be regulated independently and separately.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention consists in the construction, combination and arrangements of parts as will hereinafter be more fully described and as shown in the accompanying drawing, wherein:

The figure is a section view of the valve schematically shown in operative position.

There is shown at ID a valve body, preferably made of brass, which is provided with a gooseneck flange ll threaded as at I2, that may be secured to a vent or breather pipe l3 leading through the roof or deck M to a compartment or tank 15. The

compartment or tank 15 is intended to receive liq; uids such as fuel oil, gasoline, orjother materials, the levell6 ofwhich may varyas the material is refilled or consumed and asthe temperature rises or falls.

Tanks or compartments of this nature are generally made to stand a pressure of at least four pounds per square inch and as thelevel' rises or falls due to temperature variations or to consumption or replacement, it is necessary'that the vent pipe l3 allow excessive pressure within the tank to relieve itself as the temperature rises or as the material is being replaced and also allow the vacuum created therein by falling temperature or consumption of material to likewise relieve itself, so as to prevent exploding or collapsing of the tank wall. It is also necessary that when the material I6 is inflammable material that the fumes created and discharged as the pressure is relieved should be discharged in a position where they will not be confined so as togcause a fire hazard.

The breather valve l attached to the pipe l3 performs these functions and may be placed, in the case of a vessel, on the lowest weather deck and may operate, in spite of the fact that seas may wash thereover, without allowing any contamination to enter the tank through the valve. By being placed on the lowermost weather deck, an excessive length of vent pipe I3 is avoided.

The valve body II] is provided with an inlet or vacuum relief valve I l which seats as at l8 against the removable valve seat l9 threaded as at 20 into the valve body Hi. In order to decrease the fire hazard, a, protective cover 2| is removably threaded as at 22 to the valve body I0 and includes a fire-resistant bronze gauze 23 therewith. To gain access to the valve I! for adjusting purposes it is only necessary that this protective cover 2| and gauze 23 be temporarily removed.

The pressure at which the valve I! will relieve the vacuum is controlled by means of an adjustable spring 24 held against the bottom of the valve I! by means of the spring seat 25 threaded as at 26 through the spider 27 within the valve body. In order to adjust the spring seat 25 so as to vary the tension on the spring 24, the valve stem 28 is provided with a key 29 which slides in the key-way 3D in the spring seat 25. This valve stem 28 may be rotated by an appropriate tool such as a screw driver placed within the kerf or slot 3| which extends through inlet valve ll. As will be observed the inlet valve I7 is recessed so as to countersink the enlarged head thereon will normally shed itself therefrom due?" to the shape. a v The pressure relief or outlet valve 35 is placed vertically below the inlet valve, l1 'and' seats against a removable seat 36 threaded as at 31 to the bottom oi the valve body It). A protective cover 38 and flame-resistant gauze 39 similar to the protective cover 2| and flame-resistant gauze 23 are threaded as at 40 tolthe bottom or the valve body 10 and is removable therefrom to tom of'said valve proper below said inlet mouth,

aninlet valve seating-within said inlet mouth, a said inlet mouth discharging any entrainedforallow access to the outlet valve 35 for easy adjustment thereof. In order to easily adjust the operating tension of the outlet valve 35 it is provided with a sleeved valve stem 4 the end M is externally threaded as at 41 so as to adiustfar out to allow any water collected in this '4601 the inlet valve 'stem128'being slidably received within the stem 4| so that each stem acts as a guide for the other stem. The sleeve stem ably receive a spring seat "48 thereon as shown, the spring seat 48 being provided with guide fingers 49 which operate against the guide bars 50 integrally'projecting from the valve body In so as to cause longitudinal displacement of the spring seat 48 relativeto the valve stem 4| as the valve 35 is rotated by means of an appropriate tool such as a screw driver placed within the keri. or slot 5|.

Lugs 52, projecting internally'from the valve .36, providea companionspring. seat tor a compression spring53 secured between these lugs 52 and the adjustable spring seat 48. The valve I body") is further provided with a threaded drain 53 which may be opened by the knurled head 54 so as to bring the threaded plug 55 sufiiciently trough-shaped bottom to drain therefrom through the vent 56in the plug. 7

In operation, the set pressure at'which both valves may operate may be screw driver within the proper kerf..

' When the pressure in the tank or compartment IE exceeds that of the set resistance of the spring 53, the outlet valve 35 will open and the pressure, as Well as any moisture that may have collected therein, escape therethrough. In a similar way, whenever the vacuum within the tank becomes greaterthan that of the set pressure, of the spring 24 oflthe inlet valve H, the inlet valve I! will open and allow the atmosphere to enter therethrough. Any water or spray carried in the entering atmosphere will be deflected by the centrifugal action of the air within the circular entrance mouth 51 and cause it to drop into the trough '58 leading to the outlet valve 35, the air passing from the mouth through the gooseneck extension II through the breather or vent pipe 13.

Due to the convexity of the inlet valve assembly a minimum amount of moisture will be drawn therein and this,'as already explained, will accumulate and may be discharged either by manual opening of the plug 55-or by automatic opening of the outlet valve35. Due to this facility for 'We claim:,"

discharging any accumulated moisture the valve 10 may be placed on the weather deck or a ship or above the roof of a tank car so that any fumes discharged thereby will be discharged in the open and carried away bythe wind so as not to collect in a confined piace and cause a fire hazard;

a The invention described herein may be manuthereon or therefor.

LA breather valve comprising a valve body ,ladaptedto besecured to a vent pipe extending "through a wall or deck, said breather valve comprising agooseneck extension and a valve body proper, a circular inlet mouth located at the top of said valve propena trough formed at the boteign matter in theair to said trough, member, an

and a valve stem on said outlet valve, one of said valve stems beingin; the form of a sleeve adapted to slidably receive and, guide the other of said valve stems. V H T a 2.;A breathervalve comprising a'valve body adapted to be secured to a-ventpipe, said breathor valve comprising a gooseneck extension and a valve body proper, a'circular inlet mouth located atthe top of said'valve proper, a trough formed at the bottom of said valve proper below said inlet mouth, an inlet valve seating within said inlet mouthysaidinlet mouth discharging any entrained foreign matter in the air to'said trough member, an outlet valve, 21. valve Stern on said inlet vaive,;a valve stem on said outlet valve, one of said valve stems being inthe form of, a sleeve adapted to slidably receive andguide the other of saidvalve stems, compression spring means for holding said inlet valve'andsaid outlet 10 purposes without the payment of any royalties valve'in closed position, and means for adjust- 7 ing the compression of said compression spring 3. A breather valve comprising avaive body adapted to be secured to a vent pipe extending through a wall or deck, said breather valve comprising a gooseneck extension and a vaive body proper, a circular; inlet mouth located at the ,means, said adjustingmeans being easilyaccessible exteriorly of said valve body while said valves remain operative position.

top of said valve proper, a troughiormed at the 7 bottom of said valve proper belowsaidinlet mouth, an inlet valve seating within said inlet mouth, said inlet mouth dischargingany entrained foreign matter in the-air to said trough member, an outlet valve a valve stem on said inlet valve, a valve stem on said outlet valve, one or" said valve stems being in the form of a sleeve adapted to slidably receive and guide the other ofsaid valve-stemscompression spring means prising a gooseneck extension and avalve body proper, a circular inlet mouth located at lthe" top of said valve proper, a trough formed at the bottom of said valve proper below said inlet mouth, an inlet valve seating within said inlet mouth, said inlet mouth discharging any entrained foreign matter in the air to said trough member, an outlet valve, a valve stem on said inlet valve, a valve stem on said outlet valve, one of said valve stems being in the form of a sleeve adapted to slidably receive and guide the other of said valve stems,

an inlet valve seat located at the top of said valve body, and an outlet valve seat located at the bottom of said valve body.

5. A breather valve comprising a valve body adapted to be secured to a vent pipe, said breather valve comprising a gooseneck extension and a valve body proper, a circular inlet mouth located at the top of said valve proper, a trough formed at the bottom of said valve proper below said inlet mouth, an inlet valve seating within said inlet mouth, said inlet mouth discharging any entrained foreign matter in the air to said trough member, an outlet valve in said trough member,

said outlet valve automatically discharging any entrained foreign matter in the trough member at each operation thereof.

6. A breather valve comprising a valve body adapted to be secured to a vent pipe, said breather.

valve comprising a gooseneck extension and a valve body proper, a circular inlet mouth located at the top of said valve proper, a trough formed at the bottom of said valve proper below said inlet mouth, an inlet valve seating within said inlet mouth, said inlet mouth discharging any entrained foreign matter in the air to said trough member, an outlet valve in said trough member, said outlet valve automatically discharging any entrained foreign matter in the trough member at each operation thereof, and manually controllable means in said trough member for discharging the entrained foreign matter therefrom, should said inlet valve fail to operate at sumciently frequent intervals.

JOHN D. CRECCA.

STEPHEN M. PHILLIPS. 

